Like many of you, I check the nutrition facts on menus when I’m out to eat. Every so often I come across such high-calorie menu items that it makes me shake in my boots! Check out these 5 menu items with frighteningly high calorie counts plus see which restaurant wins our scariest calorie award.

This breakfast combo includes 8 ounces of fried beef steak smothered in sausage gravy, two eggs, hash browns and two buttermilk pancakes. Order this and you’ll eat almost all your recommended daily calories before your day has begun. I love steak and eggs, but there’s a healthier way to serve them up.

This dish has chicken, shrimp and pasta drenched in freshly made basil pesto cream sauce. Although the freshly made cream sauce sounds appetizing, drowning food in cream sauces racks up the calories and hides the flavor of all the other foods.

Thinking of dining out? Consider staying in to save loads of calories.

Want to save money and eat healthier? We’re taking your favorite restaurant dishes and pitting them head-to-head with healthy make-at-home alternatives. Who do you think the winners are?

Dining Out: P.F. Chang’s Beef with Broccoli
Although the nutrition facts lists this dish as 290 calories, 12 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat and 1,573 milligrams of sodium, each dish put in front of you contains three portions. It’s less likely you’ll keep portions in check when they’re all served in one big plate. If you down the entire dish, that’s 870 calories, 36 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat and a whopping 4,719 milligrams of sodium – more than double your daily recommended sodium intake.

Panera's Breakfast Power With Ham on Whole Grain is one of the healthier options on their menu.

It seems like Panera Bread is a healthy restaurant choice — they serve mostly soups, salads and sandwiches. But with so many options available, it can get confusing. Let us help you navigate the menu, with an easy-to-understand list of what to order at this chain, and what to avoid.

Going out to eat almost always means bigger portions and more calories, but those meals may also contain hundreds of unwanted extras from “free” items that find their way to your plate. Here are 8 pitfalls to avoid.

1. Bread
We all know to watch out for the bread basket but it’s often hard to resist. It might help to know that each roll or slice averages 100 calories; then add another 120 for every tablespoon of olive oil. Butter only has 100 calories per tablespoon but is also higher in unhealthy fat.

Pasta is a popular choice for diners, but unfortunately sensible restaurant pasta dishes are hard to come by. We scanned popular restaurant menus to find some reasonable choices.

Pasta Problem
Most restaurants offer enormous mounds of pasta weighed down with high-fat sauces. We were able to spot a couple of smarter options; a few even came with lean protein and whole grains. Sodium will always be an issue when dining out. While these dishes were in no way “low sodium,” they were among the lowest in salt.

With so many nutrition Web sites and apps popping up, who has time to check them all out? We took a look at the most talked about to help your choose the best one to help you reach your healthy and fitness goals. Here’s what we found.

With lots of spices and fresh ingredients, Thai can be a great choice, but as with any cuisine, there are some high-calorie dishes to avoid. Next time you’re craving Thai, check out our tips before you place your order.

I love to cook, but my sushi-making skills aren’t exactly up to par. So when I dine out, Japanese food is a common choice. Japanese menus have many healthy options — follow these tips to keep your order light and fresh.

Pasta and bread, melted cheese, and cream-filled pastries… Though delicious sounding, these typical components in an Italian meal can mean a calorie overload. Here are some sure-fire tips to keep on track when eating out Italian-style.